Talk:Nicole Brennan
If the Hive Mind used Nicole as a mind trick on Isaac, why did it cause Isaac to bring the marker back to the colony to suppress itself? Since this is active discussion, allow me to propose a theory about Nicole: She does not commit suicide, probably due to the realization that Isaac will come look for her upon receiving the transmission (assuming the transmission was real). She then manages to make her way to the mining deck, sending intermittent transmissions to random portions of the Ishimura in hopes of contacting Isaac (as she did not know the comm-link access code of his engineering RiG, which no doubt is changed to be separate from his personal one that she sent the initial transmission to that personal affairs do not interfere with official business, a policy implemented on our own cellular phones by many businesses. She would have known he was there because of the crash of the Kellion) and meeting him again. They finally meet on the Mining Deck, where Nicole assists Isaac retrieve the beacon so that they can both be safe. She goes into hiding again, making her way to the flight deck after being contacted by Dr. Kyne (they both worked in medical, he would know if she was alive and also knew Isaac by name the first time he contacts him) where she watches the horrific events of Kendra's betrayal. I don't remember if she contacts his RiG to lead him to the control room, but she would have gained the access code from Kyne at this point (leading me to believe she contacted him after finding out he was safe, at some point between the first time Isaac and Nicole meet but before Kyne knew the access code himself, and if/when she did know it her transmissions were blocked by Kendra as a levy against Isaac following Kendra's "orders" and not being led astray by Nicole's own efforts Kyne's objectives were probably very similar to Nicole's, Kyne as in an advanced state of insanity). They both go to the colony, where Nicole guides Isaac's efforts and then retreats to the shuttle to wait for Isaac. She is forced to hide from a scouting Kendra (who leaves after testing the shuttle's systems), where she is attacked in the cockpit by a necromorph (possibly an infector, as her body is mostly intact after infection). Kendra, believing that Nicole had went through with the suicide, convinces Isaac to believe she is dead and the hallucinations were caused by the marker. Kendra Dies, Hive Mind defeated, Isaac boards the shuttle a tired and broken man. The half transformed Nicole attacks, as the death of the hive mind so short a time after infection might have prevented full transformation, or even partially reversed the effects from the look of her body. At this point, the game credits roll, so I dunno what happens. 03:52, 18 February 2009 (UTC) The Hive Mind didn't cause the hallucinations, the Red Marker did. --EdgeZombie 19:20, December 23, 2009 (UTC) No. Nicole is dead. The game states it in no uncertain terms to prevent silly speculation. Evil Tim 14:40, 18 February 2009 (UTC) :Agreed, Nicole is dead. However, there is still the question of the locked door, and I find the "Isaac hallucinated it" explanation to be lacking, so I will submit my own. Perhaps the Necromorph Nicole truly was helping Isaac, but he hallucinated her features and voice, so that it appeared real. Of course, this is all speculation, but I believe that this theory makes more sense, as the Necromorph Nicole could be unlocking the door. (As well as whatever she was doing toward the end of chapter 11.) Morgoth1145 19:55, 8 March 2009 (UTC) Thats true but that doesnt explain why the other necromorphs were attacking the Necromorph Nicole while she was opening the door for Isaac. :As mentioned in the article currently, the Red Marker could have caused the other necromorphs to hallucinate as well, or been more directly controlling them. No matter, there are still many questions. Morgoth1145 20:28, 8 March 2009 (UTC) When you think about it, there is one necromorp in chapter 4 (i think) that says ¨make us whole again¨ and just walks away, i have always thought that it was Nicole since she had said it just moments before in an video transmission (after the brute fight when you enter the security room). But i think the necromorp Nicole in the ending is just an creation of Issacs mind since he ought to be in a pretty bad shape after being manipulated by the red marker and after all thoose really horrible experiences. --Freddex 01:01, 21 March 2009 (UTC) An Infector could have showed up while Isaac was gone, started necromorphing Nicole's body, then left, but partway through the process, the Hive Mind was killed, resulting in Nicole partly being turned into a Slasher, but without as much physical mutation, and possibly free will. Or, this could have happened right after Nicole killed her self, but the poison hampered the effects of the virus and stopped the Hive Mind from controlling her, possibly with the additional influence of the Marker (as Nicole would, in that case, be the only living person to appear to anyone under the Marker's effect. Plus, if Nicole was partially necromorphed, but incompletely and with free will, the Marker would have had an easier time using her and making her appear normal to Isaac, who she would have been able to help under those circumstances. And the Hive Mind would be unhappy about all this; an independent Necromorph, aided by the Marker, trying to stop it, of course it would try to destroy her. And at the end of the game, she hears her love pounding desperately on the hatch, opens the shuttle door, and discreetley steps aside. He probably wouldn't have thought to look to the side, so Nicole could have just sat down, watched and waited, and later leaped at him due to the slasher instinct of her necromorph form... or just because she couldn't wait to reunite with him properly. --Phazon Sentinel 01:41, 21 March 2009 (UTC) If Nicole is dead, then how could she have activated all those computers and controls? 07:50, 25 June 2009 (UTC) Mass Hallucination? If Nicole was dead, why were the Necromorphs attacking her during the part where you have to defend her while she rewires the consoles? If she was just a halluncination, why would the the Necromorph Slashers participate in the charade? Wouldn't that imply either that Nicole's body still existed in some form or another, or that the Slashers were undergoing similar hallcinations? :Issac hallucinated it, that's what I believe... although, you can grab the necromorph parts after you kill them... I just attribute it to an oversight. It's the simplest answer, he was going schizophrenic, you were playing the game from his point of view, weird shit happens. : 04:51, 25 July 2009 (UTC)Zidane ::That's probably true. I'd still say, though, that it's something of a plot-hole, along with the whole U.S.M. Valor "one Slasher beats 50+ Elite Marines" thing...- d2r 13:18, 25 July 2009 (UTC) :::Well, the Valor is really more of an ambiguity then a plot hole. There are several explanations for what happened (see the Valor pages for all of them) which can be reasonably deducted. A true plot hole is an incongruity in the flow of logic of the storyline or an unreasonable inconsistency. --Haegemonia(talk) 15:29, 25 July 2009 (UTC) ::::True. However, I'd argue that the whole "Nicole" issue is still a plot hole, in the sense that it appears to contradict the game's own stated premises. Why would real Slashers attack the hallucinated Nicole? - d2r 22:37, 25 July 2009 (UTC) :::::Well, given the Necromorph's inherent sensitivity to the effects of the Marker, it seems to me that such a hallucination could also be witnessed by the Necromorphs as well as Isaac. Given the fact she can be "killed" by the Necromorphs, one could surmise this is due to Isaac's own psychological expectations of what would occur in such a scenario or perhaps even the Necromorphs somehow "disrupting" the Marker's telesthetic projection. --Haegemonia(talk) 02:54, 26 July 2009 (UTC) ::::::Hmmm...that sounds logical. I guess I'll go with that explanation. Thanks... - d2r 05:18, 26 July 2009 (UTC) Nicole was dead from the begining of the game, i thinks that all issues with Nicooe; was a fantasy mady by the Hive Mind, so the ultimate question here is : Was a hallucination the game finale when Isaac is in the ship and necromorph Nicole appears?? Who knows? Probably, probably not. Nicole Necromorph, Hallucination? When she jumps out at him markings shown from the marker can be seen on the screen, like the ones that show up in game during Issac's hallucinations. Im not sure this confirms it as a hallucination but i thought it should be noted. what do you think based off of this? :I have to disagree. The symbols are likely just there as visual elements. They appear very abruptly and are accompanied by screeching music (or audio background if you don't consider that music), and are likely simply for effect. But hey that's just my opinion. XxSpartanxxIIxx 19:40, 16 August 2009 (UTC)xxSpartanxxIIxx Hold on now, this guy's actually got a point here. I think his explanation is entirely plausible. The significance of the unlocked door. See: Forum:Tha marker and it's stuff. for further speculation reagrding the unlocked door. Somehow, many people haven't noticed a very deliberate scene in the game's ending sequence. Isaac boards the shuttle, only to find that the pilot compartment is locked. Remember? He puts both hands on the door and bangs his fist with frustration... and then the door inexplicably unlocks on its own. That has to be significant. The nature and framing of that brief scene was very conspicuous. It clearly implies that something inside the room unlocked the door for Isaac when he 'knocked'... something that was specifically waiting for him. Obviously, that something was Nicole -- dead and somehow only partially necromorphed, free from the Marker's control in the aftermath of the Hive Mind's destruction, and still retaining enough of her human mind to want to reunite with Isaac. Watching the cutscene with this in mind, as the scene zooms in and you see Isaac stare off into space and raise his head as if a thought suddenly occurs to him, you really get the impression that Isaac himself realizes the significance of the unlocked door right before he turns to see Nicole crouching in the corner. As far as I'm concerned, the unlocked door all but proves that zombie-Nicole was real. It's clearly the most logical explanation for how the door was unlocked, and really the only logical explanation. It fits with Occam's razor in that it's the simplest explanation making the fewest assumptions -- door was locked, door becomes unlocked without any input from Isaac, Isaac goes inside and apparently discovers someone else in the room, therefore explaining how the door was unlocked. To me, the bigger question is whether or not the Nicole that Isaac rides the shuttle with to the planet's surface was entirely a hallucination... or in reality a non-mutated, reanimated corpse of Nicole that the Marker used to manipulate Isaac, which was cloaked by more of a 'layer' of hallucinatory illusion to fool Isaac -- and then this 'zombie' is what Isaac encounters in the shuttle at the end of the game, with the cloak of hallucinatory illusion having fallen away at that point. Indeed, when Isaac apparently reunites with Nicole to fly a shuttle to the surface, the shuttle bay control room where he first meets with her face-to-face is subject to some distinctly odd ambiance -- ominous background sound, flickering monitors flashing runes, etc -- seemingly a deliberate hint that something supernatural was in effect, and centering on 'Nicole' herself. The flawed assumption we may have been making was to conclude that Nicole was either entirely a hallucination, or entirely a unique type of necromorph. It actually fits all observable evidence the best to theorize that the truth is both.